22-year-old Kevin Pearce has just come off of the most successful competitive season of his career, challenging the dominance of his friend and rival, snowboarding legend Shaun White, every step of the way. Kevins professional ascent comes at a time when snowboarding tricks are becoming more and more breathtaking  but also more dangerous. His epic sporting rivalry with Shaun has introduced airbags and foam-landing pits into the sport, reflecting the lengths each is prepared to go to attain a coveted Olympic gold medal and fulfill a lifelong dream.

But on December 31, 2009, while riding the slopes of Park City, Utah in final training for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Kevin misses his landing on a complicated double cork and takes a hard fall. His buddies, a group of snowboarding professionals called FRENDS  because theres no I in friendship  find Kevin unconscious and bleeding profusely. It was the perfect storm of falls, his buddy Scott says. Kevin is airlifted to the hospital, where doctors scramble to save his life as his father, the glass artisan Simon Pearce, his mother Pia, and brothers David, Andrew and Adam, all fly from their home in Vermont to be at his side. When Kevin finally wakes up from his coma, it is a huge relief, but it is only the beginning of a long road to recovering from his Traumatic Brain Injury.

From language to vision, motor skills to memory, Kevin must come to terms with his new impairments. Yet the Pearces are no strangers to disability. Kevins brother David, who has Down Syndrome, is an accomplished young man who has won several medals at the Special Olympics. Love and support from his family propel Kevin forward as he works with the passion of an elite athlete to get his mind and body back  and live up to his fans expectations that hell make a great comeback. May Pearce Be With You, read their signs. But action sports have pushed the physical limitations of its athletes, with half-pipe walls raised to 22 feet and athletes flying higher in the air attempting tricks that escalate in difficulty and danger. In another tragic turn, Olympic hopeful Sarah Burke, a freestyle skiing champion who pioneered half-pipe skiing, falls and fatally hits her head while training on the very same half-pipe where Kevin was injured.

Yet Kevins determination to return to the sport endures. Kevins doctors explain that those whove suffered one TBI are six times more likely to experience another, and activities that once carried a moderate level of risk are now potentially deadly for Kevin. Having spent two years supporting his recovery, and mindful of the horror of seeing him lifeless after the crash, the Pearces plead with Kevin to reconsider his decision to ride again. Kevins doctors suggest that his stubborn desire to snowboard could be due to his TBI leaving him less capable of making informed decisions.

Inevitably, the Pearce family holds their collective breath as Kevin slowly tries to find his feet on a snowboard. Frustrated, he begins to realize that he just cant ride like he used to. Inspired by David, who wears his heartfelt concern on his sleeve, Kevin eventually comes to terms with his limitations, and grows into a new form of self-acceptance, one that involves a painful goodbye to his snowboarding dream. On a positive note, Kevin finds his voice as a high-profile advocate for rider safety (he credits wearing a helmet to his survival) as well as for those who have suffered serious brain injuries: in athletic competition, in war, or in everyday life.

Credits: Directed by Lucy Walker; Produced by Julian Cautherley and Lucy Walker; Written by Pedro Kos and Lucy Walker. For HBO: Supervising Producer: Sara Bernstein; Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins.